A Life Of Music
by zachary.hearson
Summary: There are a lot of ups and downs to being a musician. This is the story of how two musicians, one on top of the world, but still missing something. And the other at the bottom, not knowing what to do. find what there both looking for in a small bar in Manhattan. (Humanized, Octavia/Scratch)
1. The Life of a Struggling Musician

**The Life of a Struggling Musician**

It was another normal Friday night in the sprawling borough Manhattan, especially in one of the local bars, where a young woman in a grey suit with a pink bow tie and long black hair warmed up to play her set for the night.

She took a long look around the bar. All in all it wasn't a bad looking place; definitely not the worst place she had performed at lately and it was one of the few bars in this part of city that had a stage for live performances. The room itself was rather large, with some paintings on the walls to help lighten the atmosphere, or at least at one time it did. The paintings were old and, like most everything in the bar, the colors had started to fade from most of them.

She then looked at the bar itself, it needed some work. The counter was old and beat up from long years of use, and there was a slight smell of something stale in the air. The floor was old, worn, and beat up, it was made with hard wood that once shined with a luster's glow, but now it had long since faded with age and was stained from spilled beverages.

The young woman took one last look around and counted the number of customers, eleven, her shoulders slumped. "Not near as many as I was hoping." Octavia thought to herself as she reached up and adjusted the tuning of one of her strings.

Once she was sure that she was ready, she started into her set. She played through her first song and came to a soft meditative end. When the song came to an end she paused and waited. After a few seconds a few people in the bar clapped lethargically. She let out a heavy sigh.

"_This is going to be a long night._" She thought to herself with a slump of her shoulders.

But being the professional she was, she continued to play through her set, which consisted of a wide array of songs from many different styles, while trying to stay away from the more classical music. She had long since learned that classical music didn't go over well in places like this. What she found did work was a mixture of smooth jazz and easy listing. These may not have been her favorite styles, but she still enjoyed playing them.

Once she was done playing through her set she got up and gave a short bow, which was greeted by another round of lethargic applause. "_Can one person clapping be called applause?_" She thought as she picked up her prized cello and went back stage, which looked worse than the rest of place.

It was a small cramped space with barley enough room for handful of people. The room was sparsely furnished with two couches, which constricted the room even more, and in one of the corners was a small desk with a half broken mirror above it. By far the worst part was the smell. The room was shag carpeted, which had the adverse effect of trapping the smell of bands past that had sampled too much of the bars liquor or decided to get a quick smoke in before their performance.

Octavia made a mental note to always breathe through her mouth while in this particular room. She made her way over to the couch opposite the door and opened her cello case and gingerly deposited the instrument into its proper place. Then she did the same with the bow and closed all four latches and locked the case with a small silver key, you can never be too careful.

Just as soon as she was finished she heard the door open she stood up and turned around to see the owner of the bar. He was about six foot two, and had broad shoulders. He was in his late fifties, which was made clear by the large patches of gray in his once brown hair and the deep set lines on his face. He was also a rather large man around the middle with a belly the extended several inches in front of him. He stood with his arms crossed in front of him looking down at the smaller girl in front of him wearing the same perpetual frown partially hidden by his bushy beard that reached down to his chest.

"Well here's your pay for the night." He said gruffly as he produced an envelope from his shirt pocket and handed it to Octavia.

Octavia gently took the envelope and opened it; she quickly flipped through the small stack of one's and the single five dollar bill finding that it only came to twenty dollars. Octavia frowned as she looked up at the bar owner, "I thought we agreed on forty dollars a night not twenty."

"I said I would pay you forty if you're playing doubled the number of customers, which it hasn't." He replied with shrug of his shoulders. "You're lucky I paid you at all, you barley brought in anybody." Which wasn't exactly fair, Octavia's playing did bring in a few extra customers on weekdays, but he'd never tell her that.

Octavia looked down and nodded her head. There really wasn't anything she could do about it. The bar owner had refused to sign any kind of formal contract, so all she had to go off of was word of mouth when she agreed to play here. The owner nodded his head and left through the door closing it slowly behind him.

Octavia stuffed the envelope in her pocket and turned around to pick up her instrument case. She had gotten used to this kind of treatment in recent months. It was the same song and dance everywhere she went. She picked the case up with ease, after many years of carrying the heavy protective case she had grown used to its weight.

She turned walked out the small room and into the main room of the bar and made her way over to the counter and took her usual seat at the end closest to the door and hunched over the bar.

"What can I get yah?" The bartender asked while he wiped down the other end of the bar. He was a very kind person in his late thirties; he was clean shaven, fit man of about average height. He had a fatherly look about him, which fit well considering he had a pair of sons back at home.

"The usual is fine Eddie." Octavia responded with a slight smile tugging at the edge of her lips.

"You got it, one brandy with three cubes of ice, on the house of course, for your lovely playing." Edward said with a light chuckle while he prepared the beverage. Edward laughed at his own jokes often and even more at others jokes, it paid to be friendly in Edwards's line of work. When it came to his job Edward was one of the best in Manhattan, not that he would brag about it.

Octavia finally smiled in earnest as she took a slow drink of the amber colored drink. "Thanks Eddie, so did I get any tips?"

"As a matter of fact you did." Edward said as he reached into his apron and pulled out a ten dollar bill and handed it to her.

Octavia took the money and placed it in the same pocket as the envelope and smiled. "Thanks Eddie, you're the best." Octavia said before she took another swig of her drink

"Well that's what they keep telling me." Edward said with a smile. "So any luck getting some more gigs?"

Octavia sadly shook her head.

Edward nodded, "I hear the recent recession has been pretty tough on unsigned musicians."

Octavia nodded in agreement as she downed the last of her drink. "Well I'm going to get going. Thank you very much

Eddie, I'll see you tomorrow." Octavia said as she got up and reached down to pick up her instrument.

"You be careful out there." Edward said as he waved one last farewell.

Octavia nodded and pushed her way through the front door and out into the main streets of the city.

As soon as she was out on the sidewalk she changed her grip on her instrument from holding it by the handle to her side, to holding it with both hands in front of her, almost like a shield to protect her from the world around her.

Even thought it was late the streets were still filled with cars, and the sidewalks were strewn full of people.

Once she had a firm grasp on her beloved cello she started walking briskly towards her apartment. It was about a fifteen minute walk at the brisk pace she was going. She made it to her apartment building with no major incidents, except for occasionally bumping into somebody and quickly apologizing.

She released her tense grip on her instrument case and reached into her pocket and fumbled around trying to find her keys. Once she found them she quickly unlocked the door and went inside.

Inside the apartment building she let out a pent up breath that she didn't realize she was holding. She made her way down the main hall making sure not to make any noise knowing that most of the other residents were already asleep, or didn't want to be disturbed.

She made it to the elevator and waited. It was a nice looking apartment building, not luxurious by any means, but it was clean and well kept.

Octavia looked up as she heard a slight ding and the doors to the elevator opened. She stepped inside and pressed the slightly faded number three and waited.

After a couple of seconds the doors closed and she felt the slight movement of the elevator rising. She taped her foot as she patiently waited for the elevator to stop on her floor, silently hoping that she wouldn't run into anyone on the way.

The elevator made a ding and she looked up and smiled as the number on the display read three. The doors opened and she stepped out and turned down the right corridor and walked past the few doors till she came to hers. Room thirty two it read on a gold colored name plate with black lettering

She slid the key into the lock and turned the nob and walked into her apartment with a relieved smile.

It wasn't very big but it was cozy, from the door to the window of the living room was about forty feet, with a kitchen and a few cooking necessities, a microwave, a sink, a refrigerator, and a table top range.

The walls were decorated with pictures of Octavia at different concerts and recitals over the years of her young life. Near the window was a nice looking couch and a small coffee table covered with books and neat stacks of sheet music. Across the room from the couch, was a small TV sitting on a short table with a small vase next to it, sadly sitting without any flowers in it.

Across from the kitchen was a small closet almost empty, and next to the couch was a door that led to Octavia's bed room, a small ten by ten room with more pictures placed on each wall.

Octavia walked over to the closet and stored her cello inside before closing the door. She walked across the room into the kitchen and looked around in the fridge to find something to eat. She frowned slightly as she saw how bare she had let the fridge get…again. Octavia sighed as she closed the door.

She walked over to one of the cabinets and pulled out a half empty box of cereal and a bowl. She poured some of the cereal into the bowl then put the box back. She paused looking down at the cereal and then shrugged before she grabbed a handful and popped it in her mouth.

Once that was done eating she put the bowl in the sink, and walked into her room and yawned. She pulled the money out of the envelope and dropped it into a jar on her night stand.

"_I still need to make seventy dollars by Tuesday or I won't even be able to pay my rent this month._" She thought as she frowned.

She let out another yawn and quickly got ready for bed and slipped under the sheets. She glanced over at her night stand and reached over retrieving an old picture of her and her parents at her first recital performing with them.

Her father stood on her right holding a conductor's baton in one hand his other hand resting on his young daughters shoulder a very proud smile on his face. He was a tall, clean shaven man, with jet black hair and striking blue eyes. He was wearing a light gray suit with a pink tie.

On Octavia's other side was her mother beaming with a matching smile, one of her hands resting on Octavia's other shoulder, and in the other she held a violin and bow. She had a very kind face that had no blemishes or wrinkles. Her hair was the same color as her husbands, but her eyes were a dark pink. She was wearing a sports jacket that matched her husband and a matching skirt that went past her knees.

Octavia, was in the middle, and had a nervous smile on her face holding between her hands her large cello bow, wearing an almost identical outfit to what she was wearing earlier.

She looked down at the picture with a longing look in her eyes. She touched her right hand to her lips and then placed her fingers first to her fathers, then to her mother's lips.

"Good night mom, good night dad. I…I love you, and…and I miss you." She said out loud as tears started to flow down her face while she hugged the picture fiercely.

After a long while her tears stopped and she placed the picture back on the night stand next to the jar. She turned off the light and turned over to face out the window. She took a long deep breath before she laid her head down on her pillow and soon she drifted off into a deep sleep.


	2. The DJ

**The DJ **

_A few miles outside of Manhattan in the late afternoon the next day_

"Yo, Andy how long till we get there?" yelled a young woman with two shades of blue hair, and stunning ruby red eyes.

She was in her mid-twenties, and she had a well-built slim body. She wore a white tank top that went half way down her stomach, and grey jeans with a tear in the right knee, and a pair of light purple sunglasses on top of her head.

"We'll get there in a few minutes Vinyl, keeps your pants on." Andy said with an annoyed huff as he walked into the main room of the tour bus.

He was about the same age as Vinyl, with an average build. He had blonde hair that was cut short and spiked slightly. He wore a regular white tee shirt and blue jeans.

Vinyl sighed and fell back over onto the couch she was siting on; the tour bus was very spacious, made specifically for the comfort of traveling long distances. There were a few couches and chairs placed along the walls for people to relax in. Each wall was decorated with posters of big venues that Vinyl had recently DJ'd at.

"Hey what's with the long face Cuss?" Andy asked as he sat down on the couch opposite of Vinyl.

Vinyl looked over at him and sat back up. "I don't know I'm just bored, really really bored." Vinyl said as she looked over at one of the many pictures of her posing provocatively.

"Is that really all that's bothering you?" Andy asked, looking straight through her facade.

Vinyl eyes winded slightly and she turned her head to face him. "Am I really that obvious?"

Andy shrugged his shoulders. "Well I am your manger, and I've been your favorite cousin for a bit longer. So come on tell me what's really bothering you?" He asked with a look of genuine concern.

Vinyl looked at him and nodded. "I really am bored, but I guess more than that I feel…" She paused trying to find the words. "I feel tired, and alone. I miss being a normal DJ back in Vegas."

"What about the crowds, they're all here for you."

"Oh shut up, you know better than most people that that's a load of crap! The crowd is there as long as they like you, the second I do something wrong they'll turn on me." Vinyl said her voice rising in volume to the point she almost came out of her seat.

Andy flinched from the rising volume from Vinyl. He then unconsciously started to sit farther back in his chair to get farther away.

"Sorry, I got a little carried away there." Vinyl said as she sat back and let her heart rate slow down.

"I didn't know you felt this way about it."

"Yeah neither did I." Vinyl said as she looked out one of the windows. "I guess I'm just feeling all alone out here, with no one that really cares."

"What am I, chopped liver?" Andy said as a sly smile started to spread across his face.

Vinyl glanced back at him before reaching down and grabbing a pillow from behind her and throwing at his face. "Yeah I guess you count for something." She said as she resumed her position fanning innocence.

Not expecting the throw, the pillow collided with Andy's face and stayed in place for a few seconds before falling off onto his lap. He glared at Vinyl through slitted eyes.

"I guess I just miss the feeling of having people who are here because of who I am and not what I have done."

"Did that letter from Lyra have anything to do with this?"

Vinyl's eyes widened in surprise and she quickly opened her mouth to deny it, but after a second thought she closed it. She knew that Andy would be able to see through the lie. "Yeah, I guess it did."

"I thought you said you were happy that she found a new girlfriend, and they looked really happy together in that picture she sent."

"I am, and they make a cute couple, but…I just wish it was me." Vinyl said as she looked down, and fidgeted restlessly. "Is that selfish of me?"

"No, I don't think so." Andy said as he sat back and threading his fingers in front of his face as he tried to collect his thoughts. "You've been under a lot of stress with this tour; I thought that letter would do you some good."

Vinyl nodded her head slowly in understanding.

"Don't let it get you down. So what if Lyra wasn't the one, there are plenty of other women out there. Who knows maybe you'll find the right one here in Manhattan; this is the city of love after all."

Vinyl looked up at him with a small smirk. "I think you have Manhattan confused with Paris."

Andy smiled slightly and shrugged his shoulders. He noticed the bus was starting to slow down and he looked out the window. "Well it looks like we're here."

"Great, the shows not tell tomorrow night right." Vinyl asked as she quickly got up and stretched.

"Yeah, why? Are you planning on going somewhere?"

"Yeah, I need some time to unwind. So I was going to go find a bar and have a few drinks. You got a problem with that?"

"No, not at all just be careful, and don't wear your shades. It's a dead giveaway of who you are."

Vinyl nodded in agreement, took off her signature glasses, and handed them to her cousin. After that she went over to her room in the massive tour bus and opened her wardrobe and glanced through it.

After a few minutes of looking she found a white zip up hoody with blue stripes up the arms. She pulled it off the hanger and slipped it on, and looked at herself in the mirror and turned to see both sides of it. She frowned a little before she zipped the hoody up to her chest.

"Perfect." She said to herself before she turned on her heal and made for the door. She made her way through the rest of the bus and stepped out the side door.

She stopped and took in a deep breath of the outside air. It was mid-autumn and there was a slight chill in the evening air. She loved this time of year, when the world seemed to be readying itself for the deep sleep of winter, where everything seemed to move just a little bit slower.

"_A pretty stark contrast to the way things in my life usually is." _Vinyl thought to herself with a small smirk. Then she shrugged philosophically, people always seemed to want what they didn't have, the grass being greener and all that.

She took a long, slow look at her surroundings; it was a pretty nice part of the large city, with most of the large sky scrapers off in the distance of the city proper.

Once she seemed to have her bearing's she looked at the club she would be playing at in the next few days.

It was very typical of the clubs she had been playing at over the last few months. It had a very new age look to it, with its bright neon lights directing the outside walls to help draw the eye. Very few of them were on at the moment; she guessed that the rest would probably be turned on later when the club opened

Once she had a good chance to look it over she nodded her head in approval. She then glanced over at the small crew she had unloading her sound equipment. She knew that this club probably had a decent set up, but she liked to use her own equipment when she performed.

She then glanced over at Andy who had changed into a more business casual outfit, and he seemed to be having a friendly conversation with who she guessed was the club's owner. That was one of the things she hated doing, and for some odd reason one of her cousins favorite things to do, which is one of the main reasons she hired him in the first place.

Andy had a certain way with people that Vinyl didn't, and she was grateful to have him around for things like this. She had heard horror stories from other musicians about what could happen if you didn't have a good manager.

She shook these thoughts from her mind as she noticed that Andy was walking over to her. "So everything still on for the show?" she asked with slight tilt of her head.

"Yeah, I got everything hashed out in the contract and the owner said he's excited to hear you play."

"You mean he's excited to see how much money I'm going to bring in for him."

Andy nodded before he grinned widely at her. "Yap that's about the size of it. So you headed off?"

"Yeah just wanted to make sure that everything was squared away before I left." Vinyl said before she turned on her heals and started walking away.

"You have your cellphone on you?" Andy called after her with a slight frown.

Vinyl turned around and pulled the device out of her jeans pocket. "Yes mom, I have it right here." She said in a mocking tone before she smiled and turned back around.

Andy shook his head before he shrugged his shoulders and turned to make sure that there weren't any problems with unloading all of the very expensive equipment.

_Several minutes latter_

Vinyl had walked a good twenty minutes from the club and was finally in the main part of the city, she looked at some of the nicer bars that she passed and considered making one of them her stop for the night, but each time she would pass one, she would continue on with a small shake of her head.

The last thing she wanted was for one of her crazed fans to recognize her and want to talk her ear off all night, or worse. She thought with a slight shudder. After another few bars she finally saw one that caught her attention.

It looked a lot older than most of the other ones she had passed, and it also seemed well past its prime. The paint was pealing in some places, and in others the paint had been touched up with a slightly wrong color. She took a hard look at the sign that was hung over the door slowly swinging in the wind.

"Big Pete's Tavern." She said out loud to herself as she took one last look at the old building. "Sounds perfect." She said before she opened the front door. As she entered she was hit by a mixture of strange sensations, the smell of stale alcohol hung heavily in the air, mixed with pungent smell of tobacco smoke and sweat.

As she had guessed there was a good chance that none of her fans were here, based on the average age of the current patrons.

Aroused by the sound of the door opening some of the patrons looked up to see who the new comer was, and after the initial surprise of it not being someone they recognized as a regular they soon lost interest, none of them wanting to bother, or be bothered by the newcomer.

Once inside she took a quick look around, and after a few seconds of searching she found what she was looking for. She quickly made her way through the large room and sat down on an empty stool at the bar.

"Well howdy there stranger what can I get yah to drink." The man behind the bar asked with a kind fatherly smile as he lifted a glass of the rack and cleaned it with his rag.

Vinyl gave the man a polite smile as she looked up from the bar. "A gin and tonic if you've got it."

"Comin' right up." He said as he walked over and grabbed the necessary ingredients and started mixing the drink. "So what brings you to our little slice of heaven?" The man asked with a slight raise of his eyebrow.

"Oh, I was in the neighborhood and I needed to unwind a little and this seemed like a good a place as any." Vinyl said with a shrug of her shoulders.

He nodded slowly as he placed a wedge of lime in the drink and passed it to her. "Here you are the finest G and T in all of Manhattan."

Vinyl reached out and picked up the glass and took a sip. She was surprised to find that not only was it good it was one of the best she had ever had.

"So how's it taste?"

"It's good, it's really good." Vinyl said as she took another sip before putting the glass down. "Thank you Mr. …"

"Edward, Edward is my name, but my friends call me Eddie." Edward said with a smile.

Vinyl nodded before she took another longer sip form the glass.

"So, what brings you here to our fair city?"

"I'm uh…I'm a musician." Vinyl said with a slight pause as she put her half empty glass back down.

Eddie nodded his head in understanding. "I see, well it just so happens that our live music is about to start."

Vinyl perked up a little at that bit of information. "Really, I noticed that there was a stage, but I didn't know anyone would be performing."

"Yap, she should be out any minute now." Edward said as he glanced to see if she had come out on stage yet. Not seeing her he turned his attention back to the woman in front of him.

"A female musician, is she any good?" Vinyl asked as with a raised eyebrow.

"She's the best cellist I've ever heard before. Oh and her she comes now."

Vinyl turned in her seat and looked onto the stage and let out a silent gasp. The young woman that was walking out on stage with her cello held protectively in her hand was beautiful.

Vinyl was almost mesmerized by her grace as she walked to the chair that had been placed for her, and her eyes! Once Vinyl caught a glimpse of her beautiful pink eyes she couldn't look away.

"Quite the looker huh." Edward said as he leaned on his elbows over the bar.

Vinyl silently nodded her head in agreement, and waited for her to begin to play.

After she had taken her seat and slowly made sure her instrument was in tune. She raised her bow and immediately started into a slow, quite, relaxing song.

Vinyl took in another deep breath of air as she was enveloped by the sound of the music. "Who is she?" Vinyl asked quietly as she watched the performance in complete awe.


	3. At First Sight

**At First Sight**

"Her name is Octavia Philharmonica; she was the one of the top cellist in the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra a few years back." Edward said with a glance in Vinyl's direction.

Vinyl slowly nodded her head and continued to watch without saying a word until Octavia had finished playing her first song. She probably would have continued staring, except that the lack of applause brought her out of her trance.

Octavia waited for only a few seconds then continued on into her next song, a slow meditative piece with an easy to follow melody.

"Wait, did you say that she was a cellist in the San Francisco Harmonics?" Vinyl said as she spun around in her seat.

Edward nodded his head once in reply.

Vinyl regarded him closely to make sure he wasn't lying to her, once she was convinced she frowned slightly and folded her arms in front of her chest. "How did such an amazing cello player like her end up in a dump like this, no offense?" Vinyl asked realizing that she was possibly talking to the owner of the bar.

Edward smiled and chuckled slightly. "None taken, but to answer your question I don't really know for certain. She hasn't talked with me about it, besides it's not my business to pry."

Vinyl nodded her head slowly as she thought about what he had said.

"Although, I have heard a few rumors about what might have happened." Edward said as he leaned closer to Vinyl his voice lowering as he went.

Vinyl leaned in closer and waited for him to continue.

"From what I've heard her parents were in some kind of accident while she was performing, and that she was so distraught when she found out what had happened, she quite the very next day."

Vinyl nodded slowly as he looked from the bartender to the beautiful young woman playing a soft quite song.

"But as for the reason she came here to Manhattan, I don't know, but if I had to guess it has something to do with getting as far away from her past as possible." Edward said before he straightened up and picked up a small glass and began to wipe it off.

Vinyl nodded again and drained the last of her drink and pushed it over to Edward to fill it up again. "So how much does she make playing at a place like this?" Vinyl asked with a raised eyebrow.

Edward took the cup and started to mix another drink. "She's pretty lucky if she makes twenty dollars a night, and that's only when she plays." He placed the finished drink in front of her and continued to wipe the glass he had earlier.

"That's it, how is she supposed to live on that, does she make any tips?" Vinyl asked with a concerned look on her face.

"Yeah she makes tips even though it's not very much. Maybe ten dollars on a good night, which isn't very often, as you can tell this place isn't exactly full." Edward said with a small frown.

Vinyl reached into her back pocket and pulled out her wallet and pulled out two green bills. "Well then here, the twenty is for my drinks tonight and feel free to keep what's lift form that, and the other is for her."

Edward looked at the two bills his eyes widening a little at the sight of Mr. Franklins face looking back at him from the printed money. "I'm sure she'll be happy to have this." Edward said with his kind smile.

Vinyl returned the smile, before taking a sip of her newly filled drink. "Good I hope that will help her out some."

Edward nodded before placing one of the bills in the small lock box behind the counter and slid the other into one of his apron pockets. "Are you planning on sticking around and talking to her?"

Vinyl smiled and nodded her head before taking another sip. She then turned around in her seat and leaned against the bar and enjoyed the music that the beautiful woman on stage played.

After thirty more minutes passed Octavia finished playing her last song of the evening got up and bowed. She then quickly turned and went out the side exit of the stage and went into the side room. She went over to her cello case and very carefully stored her beloved instrument inside it. She turned and let out a heavy sigh. If the owner wasn't here that meant she wasn't getting paid tonight.

"Wonderful," She said out loud her voice dripping with sarcasm and contempt.

Octavia turned back and grabbed her cello case before she collected herself and went out the door into the bar.

Octavia briskly walked across the floor watching each step trying her best to not make eye contact with any of the regular patrons as she walked. When she was only a few feet away from the bar she stopped suddenly, as she saw somebody in her usual seat and what was more surprising was that it was somebody she had never seen here before.

In front of her sat one of the strangest looking woman she had ever seen, but even so Octavia couldn't help but think that the she looked attractive. Octavia closed her eyes and shook her head to clear those thoughts from her mind and sat down one chair away from the strange woman.

"Excellent job as always Octavia, can I get you anything to drink?" Edward asked with his usual smile, his voice breaking the small silence beginning to fill the room.

Octavia's head came up suddenly and she tried to collect her thoughts before she answered. "Um…yes the usual would be fine Eddie." She finally got out with a small sheepish smile.

"You got it, one brandy comin' right up." He said as he pulled a small glass from the self behind the bar. "So got any plans for the rest of this weekend?" Edward asked as he finished pouring the drink and expertly slid it the short distance across the bar to Octavia.

"No not really, how about you? Planning on doing something special with your family?" Octavia asked before she took a small sip of her drink.

"Yap, the wife and I are going out on a date tomorrow. I've been planning it for a while now, it also happens to be our ten year anniversary." Edward said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"Congratulations," Octavia said with a kind smile before she lifted up the glass and took another sip. As she sat the glass back down she realized that she had forgotten to ask him something. "Oh did I get any tips tonight perchance?" Octavia asked not being able to hide the hopeful look on her face.

"As a matter of fact you did," Edward said as he reached into his apron and pulled out a folded up bill and handed it to Octavia.

Octavia took the bill and unfolded it, her eyes growing as big a dinner plates as she took in the sight of Benjamin Franklin and the number one hundred printed in all four corners. She sat there staring at the piece of paper in her hands. Once she was sure it was real she looked up at Edward.

He didn't say anything only giving a small nod in response.

Octavia looked back down at the bill before a puzzled look came over her face and she looked back up at Edward the silent question obvious on in her eyes.

Edward continued not to speak and only darted his eyes over to the side twice.

Octavia followed his eyes and once again noticed the strange woman setting just a seat away.

The woman took a slow sip of her drink before she turned slightly and seemed to notice Octavia for the first time. She sat the glass down and smiled politely, "Hi, my name is Vinyl I really enjoyed you're playing tonight Mrs...?"

"Octavia, my name is Octavia. It is a pleasure to meet you." Octavia said with a slight bow of her head, before she stuffed the one hundred dollar bill into her right front pocket.

"It's nice to meet you too." Vinyl said with a nod in reply, after a few seconds Vinyl raised an eyebrow and sat back in her chair and seemed to start studying Octavia. "Do you mind if I call you Tavi for short?"

Octavia blushed slightly and looked away not being able to keep eye contact. "I…suppose that would be alright."

"Awesome thanks Tavi."

"You're welcome, and thank you for the generous tip. Money has been kind of tight recently, and I'm glad you enjoyed my playing tonight." Octavia said graciously as she was once again able to make eye contact.

"Hey don't worry about it; we female musicians need to look out for each other." Vinyl said with a dismissive wave of her hand.

"Oh, I did not realize that you were a musician, what style of music do you play?"

Vinyl leaned back in her chair trying to find a good way to explain. "I'm a DJ, but I don't play other peoples pre made beats, I make up my own and mix it up with whatever sounds I think go with it on the spot depending on how I feel it should sound."

Octavia nodded slowly, "That's a very…different style of music than I'm used to. Is it a very popular style of music now days?"

"Oh yeah totally, as a matter of fact I'm on tour right now playing some of the biggest clubs in the nation." Vinyl said with a cocky smile.

"Well I would love to hear you perform sometime."

"Actually I'm playing a show tomorrow at the Neon Plaza if you want to come by I'll have them put you on the list of VIP's." Vinyl said with a large smile as she put her elbow on the bar and leaned over placing her head on her closed hand.

Octavia looked away as she seemed to think the invitation over, after a few seconds of careful deliberation she nodded. "Why not, I don't have anything going on tomorrow, what time does the show start?"

"Awesome, I'm pretty sure it starts at seven."

Octavia nodded before she looked up at the old worn out clock on the wall and frowned slightly. "Oh my, it's almost midnight, and I need to get home before it gets too late. So I will see you tomorrow?"

Vinyl nodded returning the slight frown until a wide smile spread across her face. "Hey do you mind if I walk you home?"

Octavia's face reddened slightly as the blood rushed to her face. "I…suppose that would be alright, if you have the time I wouldn't want to be a bother."

"It's no trouble at all," Vinyl said as she stood up and motioned for Octavia to lead the way.

Octavia got up and nodded before she reached down and picked up her cello case and held it in front of herself. "I'll see you next week Eddie, I hope you're anniversary dinner goes well." Octavia said with a slight bow in the bartenders' direction.

"I hope so too, have fun you two." Edward said with a large grin and a small wave of farewell.

Octavia made her way to the door of the bar and out into the chilled night air, with Vinyl following close behind.

"So how far from here do you live?" Vinyl asked as she stepped over to the side so that she could walk next to Octavia.

"It's about a fifteen minute walk." Octavia said as she started walking towards her apartment building.

The pair didn't talk much during the short walk to Octavia's place, every once and a while one of them would steal a glance at the other quickly turning away when they thought that they would be noticed.

"Well here we are." Octavia said as the two stopped in front of her apartment building. "Thank you for walking me home."

"Hey no problem, so I'll see you at the show tomorrow night?"

"Yes I'll be there."

"Awesome, well I'll see you tomorrow then." Vinyl said with a big smile.

Octavia returned the smile and walked up the three steps, opened the door and maneuvered her and her instrument's way into the building before closing the door.

Vinyl watched until Octavia was inside before she turned and started back in the direction of the club and to where she hopped the tour bus would be parked.

Octavia let out a happy sigh and started to walk down the long hall when suddenly she was shoved roughly against the wall. She let out a gasp of surprise as a man roughly grabbed her arms and held her in place.

He wasn't a very big man only being slightly above average height and build, with a small beer gut protruding from his middle. He had short brown hair and matching eyes that had a dull light of inebriation in them. He was wearing a white stained tee shirt and ripped blue jeans.

"Hey there beautiful what you doin' out so late?" He asked with a heavy slur, the smell of alcohol thick in his breath.

"Anthony let go of me, your drunk." Octavia said as she tried to break free of the man that she now recognized as one of the other residences of the apartment complex.

"Hey now that's not very nice I just want to talk to yah." Anthony said as he held her firmly in place.

"I don't want to talk I just want to go to bed so please let go."

"Hmm, I like the sound of that lets get going then." He said as he roughly started trying to pull her towards his door.

Octavia tried to struggle out of his grasp, but he was too strong for her. Her eyes started to widen and she started to panic clutching the instrument case more firmly in her hands when she heard the front door open.

"Hey jackass she said no!" Vinyl half yelled as she strode quickly across the floor to confront the man.

"Oh yeah and what are you going to do about it." Anthony said as he turned to face Vinyl. "You're just a..." He got out of his mouth before he was suddenly interrupted by a vicious right hook that Vinyl swung into the side of his head, connecting with a meaty smack causing him to release his firm grip as he staggered from the impact before he fell backwards in a heap onto the floor unconscious.

Octavia looked at the unconscious man stunned then turned to look at Vinyl, who was shaking her bruised hand in the air. "Well I'm defiantly going to be feeling that one tomorrow, are you ok?" Vinyl asked looking Octavia over to make sure that she wasn't hurt in any way.

"Yes I am thank you, but I must ask where did you lean to do that?"

"Muay Thai kick boxing, it's a workout routine that my cousin and I do in the bus every other day." Vinyl said as she threw a few mock punches in the air.

Octavia smiled slightly at the mock show before giving Vinyl a puzzled look. "Vinyl why did you come back? I didn't scream or anything did I?"

Vinyl blushed slightly and scratched the side of her nose nervously. "I uh…kind of forgot to ask you for your phone number."

"Oh, I see…well uh here you go." Octavia said as she pulled her cell phone out of her front pants pocket and handed it to Vinyl.

Vinyl took it and quickly dialed her own phone number and hit call. She reached into her own pocket and pulled out her cell phone and frowned when it didn't ring. She took a quick look and realized she had it on silent, and for the first time noticed that she had four missed calls and eight texts from Andy. "Well he's not going to be too happy with me when I get back." Vinyl whispered quietly to herself.

"Is something wrong?" Octavia asked noticing the frown on Vinyl's face.

"Huh, oh yeah everything's fine here's your phone back." Vinyl said as she handed Octavia back her phone. "So I'll still see you tomorrow right?"

Octavia took the phone back and nodded.

"Great just come to the back door around six thirty and I'll tell security to let you in. Well then I guess I'll see you then." Vinyl said before turning around and walking toward the door.

"Wait what about him?" Octavia asked looking down at the fully unconscious form of Anthony.

Vinyl turned and looked down at him before she looked back up and gave a shrug. "Leave him, his drunk he won't remember anything and I don't think anyone will care, they'll probably just think he passed out." Vinyl reasoned before she turned and continued towards the door. "I'll see you tomorrow Tavi." Vinyl said with one last wave.

Octavia waved back as the front door closed behind Vinyl. She took one last look at Anthony and gingerly stepped over him and made her way back to her room.

_Later At the Tour Bus_

"Where the hell have you been!" Andy yelled when Vinyl shut the door to the tour bus behind her.

"I told you I went out for a drink." Vinyl said defensively, "I wasn't gone that long."

"It's almost one a clock in the morning!" Andy retorted loudly his worry still boiling over into anger.

"Ok, look I'm sorry I got a little side tracked saving Tavi." Vinyl said as she crossed her arms in front of herself.

"Wait saving Tavi, who's Tavi?" Andy asked his flaring anger suddenly diffused.

Vinyl went on to tell him the events of the night and how she had met the cellist.

"So then I punched the guy in the face and I came back here." Vinyl concluded with a tilt of her head.

Andy nodded slowly taking everything in. "Well I do suppose he did deserve it, so is this Tavi coming to the show tomorrow?"

"Yap I just told her to come to the back and I'd have security let her in."

"Good, I think I might like to meet this Octavia woman, she sounds interesting." Andy said as he stroked his chin thoughtfully.

"Hey! I call dibs I saw her first, but I do you'll like her she is pretty cool. For a classical musician" Vinyl said with a smile.

"Alright fine, well it's getting late and I'm going to go hit the sack see you in the morning Vinyl." Andy said before he let out a loud yawn and plodded along to his room.

"Sure thing Andy," Vinyl said before she went to her own room and fell into bed, falling asleep only seconds after she making contact with the soft fluffy surface.


	4. The Concert

**The Concert**

BEEB BEEB BEEB…

Octavia let out a loud groan as she reached over and hit the snooze button on her alarm for the third time that morning. She rolled over trying to go back to sleep when she was hit in the face by a stray beam of light threw her window. She shut her eyes tighter trying to keep the intrusive sun out of her tired eyes, but it was no use the sun wouldn't stop its relentless shining and after a few more seconds of trying to sleep Octavia relented and sat up in bed. She reached up and rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before shaking her head hoping to help clear the fog in her mind.

She looked outside and smiled slightly at the sun shining brightly overhead. For some odd reason she could tell that this particular Sunday was going to be a good one, especially since it was her day off. After a few more seconds of setting in bed she threw the covers off and sprang to her feat.

"Well if I'm going to have this day mostly to myself I might as well get some composing done." Octavia said to herself out loud before she padded her way out of her bed room and into the living room.

She quickly made her way over to the couch and sat down. She looked at her cluttered coffee table and stretched her fingers in anticipation; she picked up a half-finished piece of sheet music and started writing.

Composing was one of Octavia's favorite things to do, and even though she didn't have much time to devote to it, on her days off she would sit for hours and write out complex sequences of notes and dream of the day that a large orchestra would play her music for all to hear as she conducted.

After what felt like only on hour of writing she stopped and smiled at the neat little stack of paper that sat in front of her. She nodded her head in approval and frowned slightly at the lack of light. She looked outside and to her surprise noticed that the sun was starting to set.

At that moment she heard a slight buzzing sound and looked down at the table to see that her phone was vibrating and the front screen was illuminated in an alert. Octavia reached down and picked up her phone and read the text that was displayed on the screen.

_"Hey Tavi I'm looking forward to seeing you tonight! 3 Vinyl." _

Octavia smiled slightly at the text before she looked closer at the numbers at the top of the screen saying that it was six thirty. Octavia blinked twice then her eyes grew huge and she jumped off her couch and ran as fast as she could into her bedroom to get dressed.

_Six forty-five_ _at the Neon Plaza_

Octavia took a brief moment to look at the large club with a puzzled look on her face. She had never been to this side of town let alone this in particular club. She looked around at all the bright lights flashing different colors trying to garner the attention of potential customers, which while she thought the place was gaudy at best she had to admit there was a rather large crowd gathered at the front entrance trying to gain entry.

Once Octavia had become slightly more familiar with her surroundings she made her way towards the back of the building, trying her best not to bump into anyone along the way. Behind the building she was surprised to see two large men with black shirts that had white letters that said _Security_ and dark sunglasses standing in front of a large door. After looking at them for a minute she timidly walked toward the two of them.

"Hey lady what do you want?" One of the two large men said in a commanding voice that made Octavia jump slightly.

"Um… well I was told to come back here and that someone would let me in." Octavia said with a tone of uncertainty.

"Yeah right, get lost if you want in your going to have to go in the front like everybody el..."

"Hey Tavi I'm glad you could make it," Said a voice from behind the guards. The two men turned and looked before they quickly moved out of the way to reveal Vinyl wearing her usual get up walking out quickly between the two of them. "These two weren't giving you any trouble were they?" Vinyl asked before giving the two guards an icy glare.

Octavia let out a sigh of relief before shaking her head in response.

Vinyl turned back to Octavia and smiled warmly. "Good glad to hear it, well come on there's somebody I want you to meet." Vinyl said as she started to lead Octavia into the club, taking a brief moment to shoot a cold glance at both of the guards before disappearing into the building.

The two guards watched as the doors closed before looking at each other and letting out a pent up breath of relief.

Octavia tried to take in the inside of the building as best she could, as Vinyl quickly led her to a door a little ways down the long hallway.

"Well here we are I give you my green room." Vinyl said before she reached out and gave the door knob a slight twist and pushed it open.

Octavia took a step inside and her eyes grew large. While the room wasn't actually green, it was a very clean white with two couches a few recliners and two nice sized coffee tables each with a bowl of fruit, a few bottles of water and some other miscellaneous items that Octavia didn't recognize. Finally she noticed that setting in one of the recliners was a man reading a newspaper.

Andy folded down his newspaper and looked up at the two new arrivals and nodded his head in a greeting before giving them a kind smile.

"Sup Andy how are things going?" Vinyl asked as she made her way inside and plopped down on one of the soft couches.

"Well I got the stage all set up how you want it, the lights are all working and set up how you wanted, and I took the liberty of setting your booth up how you like it." Andy listed off as he folded the paper up properly and set it on one of the nearby tables. "By the way, I'm Andy Vinyl's cousin and manger. Please excuse my client for being rude and please come in and make yourself comfortable." Andy said as he made a motion with his hand bidding Octavia to come in.

Octavia nodded and stepped inside before softly closing the door.

"And please excuse my manager for being a know it all prick." Vinyl said as she stretched out on the couch and laid her head down on her hands.

Octavia blushed slightly and sat down in the other recliner. "I'm Octavia it's a pleasure to meet you."

"So you're the famous Tavi that Vinyl has told me so much about." Andy said before a sly grin came across his face. "She's pretty and polite; I think you could learn a thing or two from her Vinyl."

Vinyl scowled at Andy, which he only returned with a smile. "Yeah like I said Andy is a complete know it all prick." Vinyl said as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and turned away.

Andy shook his head and glanced over at Octavia. "So, miss Octavia why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself."

Octavia blinked in surprise from suddenly being included and gently reached up and scratched her chin in thought. "Well there really isn't much to tell. I play cello at a local bar, and I compose music in my spare time."

Andy nodded his head in response. "Yes Vinyl told me that much. But I was wonder what did you do before the bar gig started? Did you always live in here in New York?"

Vinyl quickly flipped over onto her stomach and intently looked at Octavia.

"Oh well no, I grew up in San Francisco. You see my father was the conductor for the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra and my mother was the first chair violinist." Octavia explained with a slight reminiscent smile.

"So you've spent your whole life around music?" Vinyl asked with a as she propped herself up on a small pillow.

"Well yes I suppose I have. My mother taught me how to play all of the string instruments, violin, viola, bass and cello when I was very young. But after I learned to play all of them I fell in love with the cello, its meditative sounds, and the way it moves the soul."

"But didn't your mother want you to play the violin like her?" Vinyl asked with a tilt of her head.

"At first yes, but after a while she decided that it was for the best. I practiced six to eight hours a day after school and I loved every second of it." Octavia said with a happy sigh.

"Wow eight hours a day. No wonder you're so good Tavi." Vinyl replied with a big grin.

Octavia returned the smile and blushed slightly at the compliment. "As a matter of fact at the age of fifteen I auditioned and became the youngest member of the Orchestra my parents were in."

"Oh my, a member of the San Francisco Harmonics Orchestra at fifteen, that has to be some kind of record." Andy said with a raised eyebrow and a thoughtful smile on his lips.

Octavia nodded her head in reply. "Yes it was, and those were the three happiest and most stressful years of my life. Until the accident…" Octavia suddenly trailed off and looked down at her folded hands in her lap, her happy expression suddenly changed into a mixture of grief and pain.

Vinyl and Andy both glanced at each other before turning back to the sad girl sitting in front of them.

After a few moments of uncomfortable silence Vinyl asked the question that was on both of their minds. "What happened?"

Octavia let out a heavy sigh and thought about what she should say. She had never told anyone the full story of what had happened and she wasn't even sure why she was considering telling it now, but for some reason she felt like the time was right and that even though she had just met these two she felt like they really did care.

"It happened about a week after my eighteenth birthday. My parents were on a trip to Europe to set up a possible concert in Paris, when the taxi they were in was hit by a drunk driver. They were rushed to the hospital but there was nothing they could do, and they both died from their injuries shortly afterward." Octavia said before she stopped as a few fresh tears fell down her face and landed on her hands.

Without missing a beat Vinyl jumped up and quickly walked over to Octavia and wrapped her arms around Octavia in a comforting hug.

Octavia tensed up at the sudden contact but once Vinyl gave her a slight squeeze Octavia let the dam break and pushed her head into Vinyl's chest and continued to cry softly.

Vinyl gently rubbed Octavia's shoulder and whispered comforting words into her ear to help try and calm her down.

Andy looked at the two with a pondering frown on his face piecing together all that he had just learned. On habit Andy looked down at his watch and swore to himself. He looked back up at the two girls and shrugged philosophically. _"The crowd can wait, Octavia needs someone right now and I'm not getting in the way." _Andy thought to himself as he leaned back in his chair.

After a few more minutes Octavia was able to calm down and she started wiping the tears off her checks. "Thank you Vinyl, I really needed that."

Vinyl smiled and waved her hand. "Ah it was nothing, besides what are friends for anyway."

Octavia looked at her and blushed slightly before she smiled back.

"Not to be a buzz kill but aren't you forgetting something Vinyl?" Andy asked from his spot tilted all the way back in his chair with his hand threaded together behind his head.

Vinyl looked at him confused for a brief moment before she caught a glimpse of the clock on the wall. "SHIT! I've got to go I'll talk to you after the show Tavi." Vinyl yelled as she ran over to the table grabbed her sun glasses and then ran out the door.

Octavia blinked in confusion as the door slammed behind the sprinting DJ.

"Sorry to cut that short, are you ok?"

"Yes I think so, but is she going to be okay? I mean in my experience it's never a good idea to keep the audience waiting."

"Don't worry she'll be fine," Andy said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Tell me Octavia have you ever been to a dub step concert?" Andy asked while raising a questing eyebrow.

Octavia shook her head which brought about another smile from Andy. "Well then you're in for a treat." Andy said as he lifted himself up out of his chair and made his way over to the door.

Octavia took the hint and got up and started to follow him through the back halls of the club dodging a few stray stage hands and other workers as they made their way to their stations. Even though they looked different than what Octavia was used to, it all felt so familiar in so many ways, they continued down the halls till they came to the side of the stage.

"Alright good we haven't missed anything yet; it looks like they're just about to bring her out." Andy said as he took a quick look around from the left side of the stage.

Octavia looked around and let out a small gasp as she saw how many people were in the building, the floor was packed full of people all of which had some type of glowing stick somewhere on them, and then she noticed bar off to the side was also full of people ordering drinks and enjoying the small show that the three men behind the bar made of making their drinks.

Before she could say anything to Andy, a voice came over the sound system. "Ladies and Gentlemen are you ready!"

The crowd responded in a wordless roar of cheering.

"Well then let me introduce to you, the one, the only…VINYL SCRATCH!"

The crowd once again erupted, cheering loudly as a slow continues thumping bass started coming through the speakers as the lights on stage started to turn on and flash in time with the beat as if from out of nowhere Vinyl seemed to appear behind her tables and started to add different sounds to the beat with her keyboards.

At first Octavia wasn't enjoying it much but after a few minutes and after Vinyl started adding in some complex riffs into the mix. She started too really like it and she even started bobbing her head in time with the music.

"WHAT DO YOU THINK?" Andy had to half yell so that Octavia could hear him over the music.

Octavia looked at him and nodded her head a wide smile spread across her face. She wasn't sure why but she was really starting to like this style of music.

Octavia looked across the stage at Vinyl, her hair was almost glowing as she bobbed her head and pumped her fist in the air. The whole crowd mirrored her actions and cheered in loudly in excitement.

All at once Octavia found herself being caught up in the music and her heart swelling with a wonderful feeling for this woman behind it all.

Much like Vinyl had felt the night before when she was listening to Octavia in the bar, but was it just the admiration of another talented musicians work or was it something more?


End file.
